1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cooking device that can cook food by using a heat source, and more particularly, to a cooking device that includes at least one optical heater to heat forced air provided by a fan.
2. Description of Related Art
A related art cooking device is generally used for cooking food or heating objects placed in the cooking device by supplying heat from a heat source to the food or other objects placed in the cooking device. For example, the cooking device may defrost, warm, and/or sterilize food placed in a cooking cavity of the cooking device. In addition, the cooking device may also be used to heat and/or sterilize steam towels. The related art cooking device employs various kinds of heat sources so as to implement optimum cooking methods corresponding to a variety of cooking conditions, such as the type of food or object, the type of cooking method, and the type of cooking device.
It is required that the heat sources for the cooking device be used to cook food or heat objects placed therein, quickly and uniformly to satisfy quick response time desired by a user. It is desirable that the heat source of the cooking device should also have low manufacturing and maintenance cost, stability, ease of maintenance and control, and high durability.